As part of its portfolio review, Danone SA agreed to sell its Vega brand to WM Partners, an Aventura, Fla.-based private equity investment fund focused on the health and wellness category. Price was not disclosed.
Danone inherited the business when it acquired WhiteWave Foods in 2016. A year earlier, WhiteWave had bought the Vancouver maker of plant-based nutrition products (powdered shakes and snack bars) for approximately US$550 million in cash. Vega then had sales of US$100 million
Danone has been reviewing its portfolio after a disappointing 2020, then coming under pressure from two activist investor groups, who reportedly forced out the French company's chairman and CEO Emmanuel Faber in March. Antoine de Saint-Affrique will start as CEO on Sept. 15, Gilles Schnepp became chairman. Danone plans to keep those roles separate for at least a while.
